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I have reformatted my Acer TravelMate 4020. At first, it was normal, but when I restarted again, it opened but nothing appeared on the screen. I heard the start up sound but the screen was blank. Does it have something to do with BIOS because that was the last one I installed?

Reformat Blank Screen Error

This error could be as simple as removing the Windows recovery disc from the disc drive or a bit more complicated. Let’s start with potential cause number one before exploring the other options.

Recovery Disc Blank Screen Error

When reformatting the Acer, did you use a recovery or Windows installation disc? If so, when you rebooted, the computer may be confused because it has found a bootable disc in the drive. Make sure that all disc drives do not have discs inserted and then reboot your computer.

No such luck? Let’s see if you can start your computer in Safe Mode.

Starting the Computer in Safe Mode

Try pressing the F8 key as you reboot the computer. Does Windows load in Safe Mode? If so, you may be able to access some advanced troubleshooting and diagnostics tools such as Disk Management.

However, since you just reformatted the computer, if the problem is not related to a disc being present in one of the drives, it’s probably easier to reinstall Windows rather than try to troubleshoot the first reinstallation. Reboot your computer with your recovery discs or Windows installation discs in the drive. These are bootable discs, so you should see a screen with instructions for restoring the computer to its factory condition.  

Advanced Microsoft Help

The Acer TravelMate 4020 comes in both Windows XP and Windows Vista versions. If you have Windows XP, the following Microsoft Support article may be useful:

Computer Stops Responding with a Blank Screen when Starting Windows XP

If you have Windows Vista, the installation CD has a “startup repair” tool that you can try which Microsoft describes here:

Windows Vista Startup Repair Tool

Hopefully your computer is simply refusing to load because it’s confused by the disc in its drive and will come to life once you remove the disc and reboot. If not, a reinstall may be in order.

The Geek Squad replaced both of my DVD players over a year ago. Since then I cannot use either of the DVD players/recorders. When I try to play a CD or DVD, the computer freezes up and then crashes. I’ve tried and tried to find the problem, but still no luck. What good is a computer without a DVD player? Not sure if it is a hardware or software program. A tech from my cable company said the DVD players were working correctly.

Troubleshooting DVD Drive

At this point, it’s probably too late to have the Geek Squad come back out and double-check their work. In fact, Best Buy’s Geek Squad’s warranty is 30 days. So unless you want to pay the Geek Squad again, you’re likely on your own. The problem could be as simple as a jumper setting needing to be set or you may need to update the DVD drives’ device drivers. Let’s explore the options.

The Device Manager

First, let’s see if your computer recognizes the DVD drive. The Device Manager is just the tool for our initial investigation. Go to the Control Panel and click on the Device Manager. Click the plus sign next to DVD / CD-ROM drives. Are your DVD drives showing up? Is there a yellow caution sign next to either drive?

Now, double-click on one of the drives to view more information. The first screen you will see is the status tab. Does the status message indicate a problem or is “the device working properly”? Write down the manufacturer and model number of the drive as later you may need to search for updated device drivers. Do the same for the other drive.

If the devices do not appear in Device Manager at all, you will need to open the computer case and make sure that the drives are properly connected. One should be set as a master and the other as a slave. These settings are typically set using jumpers on the drives. In addition, the drives should be physically connected to the motherboard. If you are comfortable opening your computer’s case, you can manually inspect the drives yourself. Make sure to take appropriate safety precautions including unplugging the computer and grounding yourself.

If the devices appear in Device Manager and error messages are present, follow the instructions provided by the Device Manager to troubleshoot the problem. If not, let’s try updating the device drivers.

Updating Device Drivers

One easy way to quickly “freshen” up a malfunctioning drive is to uninstall it in Device Manager and reboot the system. This forces Windows to detect “new” hardware and install the latest device drivers. Simply right-click the drive in Device Manager and choose Uninstall. Reboot the computer and let Windows reinstall the software.

Windows uses drivers in its plug and play database. If you’d rather check with your drives’ manufacturers, you can do so by visiting the manufacturers’ Web sites. Use the information you wrote down earlier to search for updated device drivers for your drive. You’ll need to download and install these drivers according to each manufacturer’s instructions. Use extreme care to select the correct drivers for your model as well as for your operating system.

Is there any way to save my MSN history directly to an online location?

Saving MSN Histories

MSN Messenger, now known as Windows Live Messenger, has a feature for saving message histories. This feature is not turned on by default. If you want to save your histories, you must go into the Tools > Options menu and click on the Messages option. Once in the Messages section, find the Message History section and place a mark in “Automatically keep a history of my conversations.” Just below that, you’ll see an option labeled “Save my conversations in this folder.” Typically, you would browse to a location on your C drive and select it as the storage folder for your MSN histories. However, you want an online storage folder, so we’ll need to get creative.

Creating an Online Storage Drive

Several online storage and backup services allow you to map your online storage account as a network drive on your computer. You will need to sign up for an account with one of these services that feature “virtual network drives.” A virtual network drive appears on your computer as a drive letter just like your regular hard drive and CD drives. For example, if you had an OnlineStorageSolutions account, your computer would have a local drive letter, let’s say the “H” drive, that is mapped to your online storage account. So, instead of choosing the C drive and a subfolder to store your MSN history, you would instead choose the drive letter for your online storage account, in this example the “H” drive.

You will first need to find an online storage account that allows drive letter access. While a number of online storage services offer free personal accounts, finding one that allows uploading of files via a drive letter for free is tougher. OnlineStorageSolutions charges $19 per year for this service.

Another option is to try the free account offered at DropBox.com. DropBox offers 2 GB of free online storage. It works by synchronizing the local “DropBox” folder with your online account. In this case, you would instruct MSN Messenger to save the history file in your DropBox folder. From there, Dropbox would upload it to your online DropBox account.  

Accessing Your Saved MSN Histories

Once set up with an online virtual drive, your MSN histories will automatically be stored online where you can access them from any computer. Accessing the MSN histories will depend on the online account that you have set up for this purpose. For example, if you use DropBox, you’ll need to sign in to the DropBox.com Web site with your user name and password where you can then access your files.

My laptop won’t start. I turn it on and it starts to start up and you can hear the fan and then it goes down and the power lights flashes off and on and the fan goes out. Can you help? I tried loading the recover disk and it acts like it is going to start running than just stops. Nothing comes up on screen.

Common Laptop Startup Issues

Unfortunately, a number of issues could be preventing your laptop from starting up ranging from power supply problems, bad connections, or failed hardware such as the motherboard, video card, or hard drive. The trick is to figure out what is causing the problem and then addressing that issue.

Power / Battery Problems

Let’s take a look at the power supply itself. Are all of the cords secure? Does the power light on the “brick” turn on? Have you tried using a different electrical outlet? You can also try powering on the computer with the battery fully removed. If the laptop powers on with the battery removed, then the battery may be bad or interfering with startup somehow.

You may want to do a “laptop reset” at this point as well. With the laptop off, its battery removed, and the power cord plugged in, press and hold the power button for a full 60 seconds. This “resets” the laptop by clearing any retained power within the computer that could be interfering with startup.

Bad Connections

Bad connections can also cause startup failures. For example, if the internal power connector is loose, then the laptop will have power problems. It could be a faulty switch or a connector that needs to be soldered to the motherboard. Similarly, connections to video cards or even the hard drive could be to blame. Inspecting the internal components of a laptop is trickier than opening up a desktop’s computer case. Inspection ports are usually located on the bottom of a laptop though these do little to address components hidden under the keyboard. This is best left to an experienced computer technician.

Failed Hardware

Another common cause of laptop startup errors is failed hardware including the motherboard, hard drive, or video card.

In short, if resetting the laptop doesn’t revive it, a trip to the computer repair shop is your best bet. Technicians can try a different AC adapter, check for loose connections, and test your hardware.

I am having a problem with Windows Live Messenger. This has been an issue ever since I got the PC on both Windows Vista and Windows 7. The PC is not even a month old and Windows Live Messenger installs fine. Sometimes I can access it on a rare occasion. Most of the time it is running the process tree when I look but still can’t open up the actual program. I try closing it from the Task Manager and reopening but it doesn’t help. I can click on the icons over and over and it just loads more instances of the messenger. I have no idea what’s causing this. Any ideas?

Many users have had issues with Windows Live Messenger and its predecessor MSN Messenger failing to load properly. One of the most common issues is with the router though it’s also possible that you have a bad installation on your computer. Let’s take a look at some steps you can try.

Reset the Router

The first step is to reset the router. Your router should have a reset button on it. If not an actual button, there may be a tiny hole in the back where you can insert an unbent paperclip. If your router does not have a manual way to reset it, simply unplug it from the power source and let it sit for a minute or two. Plug it back in and see if the problem resolves itself. Resetting the router has solved this issue for many Windows Live Messenger users.

Repair Windows Live Messenger

You can also try repairing your installation of Windows Live Messenger. Go to Start and type “Programs and Features” into the Search bar and then click its link under Programs (or go to Control Panel > Programs and Features). Find Windows Live Essentials in the list of installed programs and click on Uninstall/Change. Choose the Repair option and click Continue. This will repair your installation of all Windows Live Essentials programs, including Windows Live Messenger.

Update Windows

Whenever a program fails to respond as expected, it’s not a bad idea to update your operating system to take advantage of any potential “fixes” that may have been issued by Microsoft. For example, if an external program or device is known to interfere with Windows Live Messenger and Microsoft has created a patch that fixes the issue, the patch will be released as an Update. Go to Control Panel > Windows Update and check to see if any updates exist addressing this issue.

Use the System File Checker Utility

You can also try running the System File Checker which will scan your operating system for file corruption which could be interfering with your computer’s performance. Press the Windows Flag key and the ‘R’ key at the same time to open the Run dialog and then type in: sfc /scannow

Follow the prompts to allow the System File Checker to scan your computer for missing or damaged operating system files. You may need your original installation discs to replace these damaged files.

Uninstall and Reinstall Windows Live Messenger

Another option is to try uninstalling and reinstalling Windows Live Messenger.

When trying to access MSN Messenger I get the message, “Host files contain Windows Live Messenger related entries - may interfere with name resolution.” How can this be fixed to allow access to MSN Messenger?

MSN Messenger Symptoms

In further conversations with the questioner, it turns out that this computer is used by several users, all of whom sign into the computer using the same user account. All of the users except for one can sign into Messenger without a problem, but one user consistently receives this error message. Another interesting symptom is that when signed into this particular MSN Messenger account, the CPU usage spikes to over 100 percent.

MSN Messenger vs. Windows Live Messenger

MSN Messenger has since been replaced by Windows Live Messenger. If you haven’t already, upgrade to the latest version of Windows Live Messenger. While this may not solve the individual user’s error message, it might. Plus, you’ll have the latest fixes and all the bells and whistles offered by Windows Live Messenger.

Troubleshooting the Host Files Error

Since this error is specific to a single user account, it’s not likely an issue with the computer’s set up. While many MSN Messenger users have solved a similar error by rebooting their routers, this didn’t work in this situation. Most likely, something is going on with this one user’s MSN Messenger settings. Once you upgrade to Windows Live Messenger, you can run the built-in Connection Troubleshooter to see if it can solve the problem for you automatically. Do this by clicking on the Show Menu button, then click on Tools followed by Options.

Now, click on the Connection link in the left side pane and then click on the Connection Troubleshooter’s Start button. You can also click on Connection Settings > Advanced Settings to run a few diagnostic tests.

Comparing Settings

If the Connection Troubleshooter doesn’t solve the problem, consider comparing every single user setting in the Options dialog with those of another user. Which settings are different? Perhaps the user’s display photo is oversized and gobbling up system resources as Messenger tries to display it? Maybe the other users’ Connection Settings are set up to use a proxy server and this user’s account is not set up that way (or vice versa). Look for anomalies.

For example, Microsoft recommends deleting the entries under SOCKS in the Connection > Advanced Settings section as a troubleshooting step when you can’t connect to Messenger.

Clear DNS Cache

Finally, try “flushing the DNS cache.” Go to Start > Run and type in: cmd

Press Enter and then type: ipconfig /flushdns

Press Enter one more time.